Philippe Descola
French anthropologist, (1949 – ), France
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Anthropology
Philippe Descola's Degrees
- PhD Anthropology Université Paris Cité
Why Is Philippe Descola Influential?
(Suggest an Edit or Addition)Areas of Specialization: Ethnology, Social Anthropology
Philippe Descola is chair of anthropology at the Collège de France, most well-known for his research regarding the Achuar, an Amazonian community that was one of the last to be contacted by the outside world. He lived with and researched with the Achuar in Ecuador from 1976 to 1978.
He is a highly-sought lecturer, and has delivered many notable lectures including the Munro Lecture at Edinburgh, the Victor Goldschmidt Lecture at Heidelberg, the Clifford Geertz Memorial Lecture at Princeton, and the Radcliffe-Brown Lecture at the British Academy.
He has served as chair of the Société des Américanistes since 2002. He is an honorary fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute and has received numerous prestigious honors. In 1997, he was named a Knight of the French Order of Academic Palms, in 2010 an Officer of the French Legion of Honor, and in 2016, he was named a Commander in the French Legion of Honor.
His work has also been recognized with several impressive prizes. In 2004, he was awarded the French National Order of Merit. In 2012, the French National Centre for Scientific Research awarded him their Gold Medal, and in 2014, he won the International Cosmos Prize.
Featured in Top Influential Anthropologists Today
According to Wikipedia, Philippe Descola, FBA is a French anthropologist noted for studies of the Achuar, one of several Jivaroan peoples, and for his contributions to anthropological theory. Background Descola started with an interest in philosophy and later became a student of Claude Lévi-Strauss. His ethnographic studies in the Amazon region of Ecuador began in 1976 and was funded by CNRS. He lived with the Achuar from 1976 to 1978. His reputation largely arises from these studies. As a professor, he was invited several times in the University of São Paulo, Beijing, Chicago, Montreal, London School of Economics, Cambridge, St. Petersburg, Buenos Aires, Gothenburg, Uppsala and Leuven. He has given lectures in over forty universities and academic institutions abroad, including the Beatrice Blackwood Lecture at Oxford, the George Lurcy Lecture at Chicago, the Munro Lecture at Edinburgh, the Radcliffe-Brown Lecture at the British Academy, the Clifford Geertz Memorial Lecture at Princeton, the Jensen Lecture at Frankfurt and the Victor Goldschmidt Lecture at Heidelberg. He has chaired the Société des Américanistes since 2002 and the scientific committee of the Fondation Fyssen from 2001 to 2009, as well as holding memberships in many other scientific committees. He has also be elected Honorary fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute and received in 2015 the honoris causa doctorate from the University of Montreal, Canada. Descola is currently chair of anthropology at the Collège de France. His wife, Anne-Christine Taylor, is an ethnologist.
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What Schools Are Affiliated With Philippe Descola?
Philippe Descola is affiliated with the following schools:
